A Short Walk
by Chima
Summary: Surely ONE walk couldn't hurt...


"Sakurachan--"

"Go AWAY, Lee," Sakura didn't stop walking, trying to ignore her green shadow. No, she didn't have to be anywhere, but if she looked enough like it maybe he would leave her alone. Scratch that, he'd probably offer to carry her. She gritted her teeth and turned to face him, sighing. "What do you want?"

"I--" he stopped, seemingly perplexed by the concept of her letting him get out more than her name. _At least he's got an actual personality now_, Sakura thought as he let his arm drop and half-looked at her and half-looked at the ground. _He isn't nearly so much of a little soldier as he used to be_. He wasn't wearing his usual green jumpsuit today, for whatever reason; instead he wore baggy, pale green pants and his chuunin vest zipped over a white mesh shirt. "Maybe we could...walk together?"

Say no, say no, if you say yes he'll go all 'YOSH!' and make some proclamation and embarrass you..."I guess," she mumbled, bracing herself for the oncoming shine and determination, but he just grinned like a kid in a candyshop and stepped up beside her.

"Great!" she knew she was looking at him oddly but he didn't seem to care; he was used to odd looks, she supposed. As they started walking again his smile faded back to a smaller, content one; arms folded behind his head as he looked about at the familiar landmarks. "How's your training with Tsunade going?"

_It's incredibly difficult, I can hardly do even the simplest healing jutsu, nevermind the more complex ones. Focusing my chakra is so hard when I barely have any, and the exercises she gives me to increase my reserves leave me so dead-tired I can barely drag myself to bed_. "Fine," she says instead. Out of the corner of her eye she sees his eyebrows bunch together; he knows she's lying. He doesn't say anything.

Now they're walking through the park. The flowers are in full bloom and the trees leaves rustle in the gentle breeze; it's one of those perfect days right before the full onset of summer's heat. Sakura sighs and stretches her arms toward the sky and the sun, closing her eyes in contentment. "Would you like to sit down, Sakurachan? The grass is really comfortable in this part of the park," she opens her eyes and he's smiling at her, pointing toward a small hill under a tree a little ways off the path. She should really get home and finish her chakra exercises, there's no time to relax when you're training to be a medic; but it's such a beautiful day and she's been working _so_ hard lately and resting for just a little while couldn't hurt...

Before she realizes it Lee has taken her hand and is leading her off the path, a wide grin on his face, and then she's lying in the grass on the far side of the tree and he's sitting against its trunk and Sakura can't remember the last time she was so relaxed. She doesn't even notice that Lee is still holding her hand. Instead she closes her eyes and sighs again, a smile coming onto her face.

She out of a doze to the feel of Lee's fingers massaging her hands, working out all the tension that had built up over the course of the weeks of medical training. It feels so good she wants to cry.

"You should be more careful of your hands, Sakurachan," Lee admonishes her gently. "Tension tightens your chakra channels, and you could get chakra burns if you try to force them open."

She just stares at him; _how does he know that? Why would someone who can't use chakra bother learning...?_

He laughs a little at the face she's making. "Just because I can't use chakra doesn't mean I don't know how it works," that warm smile of his is back, and she can't help but smile, too. "You've beautiful hands, in any case," he says a little quieter, coloring slightly. "You should be careful not to hurt them."

She blushes too, at that. She slips her hands from his talented fingers and sits up, taking his hands instead to look at them and cover her embarrassment. "What about you? You should take care of your hands, too." They're covered in scars and callouses, courtesy of years of taijutsu training.

"It doesn't matter so much for me," he mumbles, pulling his hands away from hers before she can examine them closely. "I don't need gentle or pretty or soft hands for taijutsu, and I don't need to worry about damaging my chakra channels since I can't use them."

Sakura never realized how much his handicap hurt him, but she can see it now in the look on his face. She wishes he would let her examine his hands, see what she could tell about his chakra channels; maybe it's something wrong with them that makes it so he can't mould chakra, and maybe it can be fixed...

But he's hiding his hands in his lap and isn't looking at her, and for once she doesn't want to drive him away, so she bites her lip and scoots backward until she's leaning against the tree next to him. They sit in semi-comfortable silence for several minutes, and suddenly she notices he's watching her. "W-what?" she blushes, and he turns his face to the ground, mumbling.

At her look he colors slightly, toying with a blade of grass. "I...I was wondering if...if you'd let me kiss you..."

"No!" she snaps automatically, turning away from him. "I'm in love with--"

"With Sasukekun, I know," he mumbles from behind her. "I-it's just..." she looks over her shoulder at him, he's still staring at the ground and fiddling with the blade of grass. "I know we can never have anything. I just...I just wanted to, even if it's only once. I wouldn't ever tell anyone, and you can go back to hating me, if you'd like..."

He's not half bad-looking anymore, inner Sakura comments. His hair is a little longer; he's filled out some and isn't so gangly anymore; he's not wearing that ridiculous jumpsuit...And now he's looking at her and for some reason she's leaning toward him, her hand touches his cheek and his skin is softer than she thought it'd be; then their lips are touching and he's got a look in his eyes like he can't believe it's actually happening. _He's a really good kisser_, inner Sakura giggles to herself, _how'd that happen?_ His hand trails up her arm and comes up to tangle in her hair as her eyes slip shut, pulling her closer and gently massaging the back of her head as he deepens the kiss. A small sigh escapes her into his mouth and she can feel him smile slightly. His other arm has crept around her waist and he's leaning over her, then they're lying on the grass and for some reason she doesn't mind that he's still kissing her, or that his hand is trailing up from her shoulder to her cheek and down again in a soft caress. Finally they pull away from each other and they're both blushing and looking away.

"We should walk together again, sometime," she says quietly as she lies next to him on the grass, and she can feel him smile.


End file.
